1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an inkjet image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an inkjet image forming apparatus having an array printhead including a nozzle unit of a length that corresponds to the width of paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet image forming apparatus is an apparatus which fires ink using a printhead (i.e., a shuttle type printhead) spaced apart a predetermined interval from the front surface of a sheet of paper and which reciprocates in a direction (i.e., the width direction of the sheet of paper) perpendicular to a delivery direction of the sheet of paper to form an image on the sheet of paper. The printhead includes a nozzle unit having a plurality of nozzles to eject ink.
Recently, an attempt has been made to realize high-speed printing by using a printhead (i.e., an array printhead) having a nozzle unit of a length that corresponds to the width of the sheet of paper instead of the shuttle type printhead which reciprocates in the width direction of the sheet of paper. Since the printhead is fixed and only the sheet of paper is moved in the array printhead inkjet image forming apparatus, a driving mechanism is simple and high-speed printing may be realized.
The array printhead may supply ink of a plurality of colors to form a color image. For that purpose, a plurality of supply channels through which ink of the plurality of colors is supplied may be formed at a length that corresponds to the width of the sheet of paper in a lower surface of the array printhead.
However, as described above, since the supply channels which supply ink in the array printhead are formed with a length that corresponds to the width of the sheet of paper, the array printhead is difficult to manufacture and a degree of planarization needs to be managed to properly mount a head chip on the array printhead.